About three-quarters through a lively two-hour practice on
campus in College Park, Md., last Tuesday morning, Maryland's
senior goalie, Niko Amato, gobbled up a 12-yard left-handed shot
from the right alley by heralded freshman attackman Matt Rambo.

"Popcorn," Amato yelled in mock jest at the ease of his
stop.

It was an appropriate food reference, although Amato probably
wasn't thinking it at the time. He just wanted to remind a freshman
he was a freshman. (But don't let the one scene fool you; Rambo
looked impressive.)

But just as former NFL wide receiver Terrell Owens alerted fans
to watch him and "Get your popcorn ready," when he joined the
Dallas Cowboys, eyes will be on the impact and development of
Maryland's highly-regarded rookie class. Although they're not
necessarily seeking out the attention, Maryland coach John Tillman
said, like T.O. would.

Rambo, widely considered one of the top freshmen in the country
after a decorated career at La Salle (Pa.), along with attackmen
Tim Rotanz, Connor Cannizzaro and attack/midfielder Colin Heacock
are a four-pack of offensive talent that could see plenty of
playing time this spring in what figures to be an even more
competitive year of ACC lacrosse. Notre Dame and Syracuse join the
Terps, defending national champion Duke, North Carolina and
Virginia in the fray.

Rambo, Rotanz, Cannizzaro (younger brother of 2013 Tewaaraton
women's finalist Kara, of North Carolina) and Heacock are among 13
true freshmen on the Terps' roster who will help replace a
battle-tested group of graduated seniors, including five of six
offensive starters from the lineup that bowed out to Cornell in the
first round of the NCAA tournament at Byrd Stadium.

The Terps' home football and lacrosse venue stood about a
parking lot away from where the team practiced outside on the turf
at Maryland's football practice facility from 8-10 a.m. on Tuesday.
Maryland opened practice to the media, which led to a few extra
spectators standing along the sideline nearby a recruit who
happened to be on campus.

Guys dealing with injuries, including senior defenseman Michael
Ehrhardt (a full 14-game starter last year) and faceoff man Charlie
Raffa, who wore a brace on his left knee, worked off to the side.
Raffa dragged weights across the field, for example. Tillman said
they hadn't practiced yet this fall, but were expected back.

Between the lines, the Terps never stopped moving for the most
part. Practice was split into carefully planned segments. The time
of each period was counted down on a scoreboard above the field and
when the horn blew signaling the end of the allotted time, the team
quickly transitioned to the next thing.

Usually, that thing involved some sort of competition. After
warming up, offensive and defensive units were pitted against each
other in what was labeled an explosion drill. It practiced 4-on-3s
and at the end of a few rounds, the winning side watched the loser
run sprints. First it was the defense, then Tillman interrupted one
round because the offense hadn't scored in four straight tries, and
then the defense again.

The theme continued. From there, it was full-field transition
practice, and an extended period of 6-on-6s. It was quick, brisk
with little time for rest. Even Team USA hopeful, Terp alum and
Denver Outlaws midfielder Jeremy Sieverts participated as he
prepared for an evaluation weekend with the U.S. men's national training team
at the annual Play for Parkinson's fall event.

The Terps have not anointed any of the top freshmen as starters
at this point and will leave that open until possibly early
January, Tillman said, but they were certainly on the field as much
as anyone in this particular practice.

"We didn't want to make any final decisions until we felt like
it was clear to everybody here. Right now, there are a lot of guys
fighting for spots, and we've appreciated that," said Tillman, who
was also quick to point out the under-the-radar upperclassmen
involved in those competitions, too. "That competition has really
helped us. Like most freshmen, we've had some good days and some
days where maybe the game was pretty fast for them, which is
typical."

In one 6-on-6 set, Rambo worked from the low left wing against
junior defenseman Goran Murray. The pair were certainly familiar,
even though Murray, a junior, is two classes his senior. They
played against each other in high school in the Philadelphia area
as Murray was a Haverford School (Pa.) product. Rambo, listed at
5-foot-10 and 200 pounds, bulled his way to two goals, showing off
his strength and finishing skills. (Another Philly connection:
Maryland redshirt sophomore attackman Kevin Forster was a senior
captain at La Salle (Pa.) the season Rambo transferred there from
Abington (Pa.) for his sophomore season.)

"It's fun. It's a battle," Rambo said of going against Murray,
who knows about stellar rookie campaigns as he was the 2012 ACC
Freshman of the Year. "We went against each a few times in high
school, but it's always fun. There's always competition with the
offense and the defense. The offense is always trying to beat the
defense out. We always have competitions at practice, so that's
what we try to do."

Tillman said Rambo has been humble, very coacable and has shown
a self-deprocating, funny personality that's allowed him to fit in
well with older players on the team. And, he's got skill.

"He's definitely a really good player," senior midfielder Mike
Chanenchuk, the lone returning offensive starter from last year's
NCAA tournament game, said of Rambo. "He kind of has the whole
skill set. He's got both hands, he's really fundamental and he's a
quick player, quick with his hands. He's coming along really
well."

Rambo, Rotanz and Cannizzaro saw time mostly on attack —
aside from when the Terps' completely inverted for practice
purposes — while the 6-foot-2, 190-pound Heacock played a lot
of midfield, even short-stick defensive midfield during one
stretch. It should be noted that although the freshman will get
much attention this year, they weren't the only ones on the field
for the Terps.

Amato, a three-time All-ACC pick, is a stalwart in net and
Raffa, when healthy, is as effective as a faceoff guy there is.
Leaders are emerging across the field on defense, where there are
also holes to fill, notably at long-stick midfield, where Jesse
Bernhardt is no longer. Junior defenseman Casey Ikeda, who started
14 games a year ago, brings experience. Senior defensive midfielder
Brian Cooper, who played in 11 games last year, and sophomore
defenseman Matt Dunn and junior defenseman Eric Parnon, who started
one game between them last year, have provided leadership and taken
on more responsibility. Tillman said that Ikeda, Ehrhardt and
Murray could play long-stick midfield.

There's more uncertainty on offense.

"Graduating that class that we did, with a lot of offensive guys
and really good players, there's a lot of open spots for pretty
much anyone on the team," Chanenchuk said. "A lot of these freshmen
have a good shot, but a lot of the sophomores and juniors do too.
We're just kind of working with everybody. Right now there's no
real lineup or spots, just kind of getting everybody on the same
page is what we're trying to work on."

For Chanenchuk, whose career began at Princeton, he is simply
happy to be on the field this fall after dealing with injuries the
previous two years. The freshman Rotanz mentioned him as a helpful
leader on offense.

"Getting out here and getting a head start compared to the last
two years has been really helpful for me," said Chanenchuk, who
scored 23 goals and had 14 assists a year ago for 37 points, second
most on the team. "Being an older guy on this team, I'm just trying
to push these freshmen along, push the sophomore and juniors. Just
trying to lead by example. It's been good so far."

Tillman said he's been impressed with the attitude of the
turtles, young and old. They are the first Maryland group in three
years not be returning off a national title game appearance. The
16-8 early tournament loss to Cornell certainly stung; an "early
exit," Chanenchuk said.

"The younger guys have come in very humble, and said we're going
to listen to the older players and we're going to do what they ask
us to do," Tillman said. "They've trusted them, and that's really
helped us as a group, because everybody realizes that we're going
to need every guy on this roster to compete every day, to feel like
they can come out and make plays. They are important for us to have
a chance to be successful."

Tillman: Year Four

This year is Tillman's fourth in College Park after replacing
former coach Dave Cottle. Although there are still Cottle
connections in the program -- in the form of seniors who signed
National Letters of Intent when he was still coach, and assistant
Ryan Moran, who was Cottle's assistant for two years -- Tillman
said, "Being the fourth fall, we have a little bit better idea of
what works here," when talking about fall plans.

The first three spring's have set the bar high, with three NCAA
tournament berths and two national championship game appearances.
Tillman is in the fourth year a seven-year contract.

We're Talking About Practice

Maryland will play in no fall events aside from holding an
alumni game the weekend of Oct. 19, although several notable recent
alumni will not be in attendance because that is the same weekend
as a U.S. men's national training team event in Downingtown,
Pa.

"We thought long and hard whether we wanted to have a scrimmage
day or not," Tillman said. "One of the things that maybe we found
so far is that without that big day there may be a little bit more
of a sense of let's make the most of each day. You can earn more
playing time or you can grow more as a player just through practice
because that's really all we have."

Keeping it Real

Tillman said the team is under no delusions of grandeur,
especially when compared to other teams expected to be
nationally-ranked.

"We realize where we're going to be ranked and what people think
of us," he said. "We realize we're going to have to work really
hard. We're going to have to get a lot better. So far, not too bad,
but we're thankful our first game is not until February because
there's a lot more work to do for us."